Recap / The Sopranos S 6 E 4 The Fleshy Part Of The Thigh

"Truth be told, there's enough garbage for everybody."

"From now on, every day is a gift."

— Tony Soprano

Tony begins to ponder the meaning of the Ojibwe saying pinned to his hospital billboard. He initially suspects Janice of putting it there, but she denies it. He is then visited by Aaron Arkway (one of Janice's old boyfriends) and Bob Brewster, who take it upon themselves to try to redeem Tony to a Protestant view of Christianity. Tony finds himself unable to tolerate the self-righteous duo, and starts an argument with Brewster over why his beliefs forbid abortion and birth control, but not Viagra. Brewster shows up a second time, trying to convert Tony to Christian redemption and abandoning his old ways.

A rapper named Da Lux is in the hospital after getting shot several times. His associate, Marvin, desires fame as a rapper for himself. Tony watches a boxing match with both of them, along with a physicist named John Schwinn. Schwinn provides an explanation of how there are no truly separate identities in the universe, and that everything amounts to different manifestations of an interconnected whole. Tony ponders the meaning of the Ojibwe saying.

Marvin agrees to pay Bobby $8,000 to give him a non-fatal gunshot in the "fleshy part of the thigh". Marvin's hope is to gain "street cred" that will enable his rise and fame as a rap artist. However, he pays Bobby $7,000 instead of the agreed-upon $8,000, to which Bobby accepts reluctantly. Later, Bobby shoots him in the ass instead of the thigh.

Dick Barone has passed away. His son, Jason, wants to sell the company and is unaware that it's a front for the DiMeo crime family. Jason can't back out because Johnny Sack takes an interest in buying the company to alleviate the financial situation of his own family. Tony is reluctant because the company allows him to file tax returns and claim health insurance as a cover for money earned from his illegal operations. They end up negotiating with each other through a series of offers and counteroffers delivered through their representatives, Phil and Paulie.

Jason wants to renegotiate the sales contract when the Jersey mobsters make it clear that he'll have to compensate Tony himself should Tony not get what he needs. The owner of the Cinelli company won't let Jason back out of the signed deal. Matters escalate when Cinelli workers ambush a Barone driver and beat him nearly to death with lead pipes. Tony castigates Jason for not consulting him prior to the sale and letting matters get as far as the attack on the driver.

Paulie receives a shocking revelation from Dottie, a nun whom he always thought was his Aunt. It turns out that Dottie is actually his mother, and conceived Paulie with a soldier named Russ during World War 2. Paulie becomes terrified of having his status in the mob deteriorate should it come out that he's not fully Italian. He refuses to attend Dottie's funeral and disowns Nucci for maintaining the charade of being his mother for years. Tony calls him out on being a hypocrite, pointing out all the times that Nucci looked out for him. Jason's mother arrives and pleads with Tony to spare Jason from any harm. Paulie leaves on the verge of tears, as the scene reminds him of all the times Nucci cared for him.

Tony and Sack manage to work out a deal. Tony seems to have a change of heart as he enjoys relaxing in a recliner in his backyard, with strong winds blowing over the trees.

But Paulie isn't done yet. He beats Jason over the knees with a pipe, forcing Jason to pay for the monthly $4,000 needed to keep Nucci in Green Grove.

Tropes:

• Bad Liar: Nucci tries to Maintain the Lie that she's Paulie's mother, but quickly crumbles when pressed further by Paulie.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: How Tony sees Bob Brewster.
• Broken Pedestal: Paulie refuses to go to Dottie's funeral. And he afterwards disowns Nucci, albeit temporarily.
• The Bus Came Back: Aaron Arkway appears in this episode, as a Christian Fundamentalist protesting against the hospital's decision to fire a staff member who refused to fill out birth control prescriptions.
• Close to Home: Paulie seeing Dick Baron's widow beg Tony for Jason's life reminds him of the numerous times Nucci looked out for him. He leaves on the verge of tears.
• Continuity Nod: Tony asks Hesh how Eli's recovery is going.
• Country Matters: Tony calls the insurance rep one.
• Cue the Falling Object: Paulie throws Nucci's TV out the window. It crashes on the sidewalk outside Green Grove just as another resident is driving her wheelchair by. And of course, she doesn't even notice it.
• Deathbed Confession: Aunt Dottie tells Paulie that she's his real mother after getting knocked up by an unidentified soldier during the Second World War.
• Do You Want to Haggle?: Tony and Johnny Sack, each dealing with crises of their own, engage in protracted negotiations over the sale of Barone Sanitation, with Paulie and Phil acting as their respective messengers. They eventually reach a deal.
• Dr. Jerk: The insurance company representative is motivated solely by minimizing the costs of Tony's care for the insurance company, and doesn't even remotely make an effort to hide her callousness.
• Double-Meaning Title:
  • When discussing ways to increase Marvin the rapper's popularity, Bobby proposes delivering to him a relatively benign gunshot wound to "the fleshy part of the thigh." This would be done to increase his reputation, popularity, and his appearance as a gangster to his fans.
  • In Genesis, chapter 24, in which a dying Abraham obligates his servant to a vow with the order to place his "hand under my thigh". A similar dying wish is alluded to in Paulie's encounter with his estranged biological mother.
• Drugs Are Good: Tony dislikes having his morphine cut down, although he admits the necessity of avoiding becoming addicted to it.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • However conflicted Paulie might feel about the revelation as to his parentage, he is still deeply saddened by the news of Dottie passing away.
  • Johnny Sack is determined to buy out Barone Sanitation because he wants to alleviate the financial hardships faced by his family.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Tony is appalled at seeing a little girl in the hospital with third-degree burns. He even calls Paulie out for complaining about his problems in front of her.
• Evil Is Petty: Bobby decides to give Marvin a much more painful shot in the ass instead of the "fleshy part of the thigh", just because Marvin shorted Bobby by $1,000 on their deal.
• Excellent Judge of Character: Carmela, perhaps surprisingly, correctly identifies Vito as The Starscream.
• Fame Through Infamy: Deconstructed with reference to how rappers often try to gain fame in the music world by having a reputation for "Street Cred" that precedes them and fuels record sales.
  • Da Lux's agent is filled with excitement at the prospect that Da Lux getting shot will mean a rise to rap stardom. But Da Lux is in such agony that it's obvious he would trade fame and fortune for being spared the pain of his injuries in a flash if he could.
  • Da Lux finds himself in awe of Tony, who has truly achieved Fame Through Infamy by being an actual real gangster.
  • Both Da Lux and Marvin are shown to be fairly nice guys, in stark contrast to the badass images and reputations they feel they need to stay relevant in the world of rap music.
  • Then there's the deal between Bobby and Marvin, whereby Bobby will give Marvin a non-fatal shot so that Marvin can rise to rap fame. But then Bobby in a moment of pettiness shoots Marvin in the ass instead of the "fleshy part of the thigh". The motivation being that Marvin shorted him $1,000 on their deal.
• Fish out of Water: Jason Barone insists on selling Barone Sanitation, even though it has served important purposes for a mobster like Tony, and despite more than one warning that he shouldn't and having the hint dropped to him that there are Mob interests involved. But he stubbornly persists in the delusion that he can rake in the cash by selling a Mob-fronted business and walk away clean without any repercussions. And sure enough, the predictable happens...
• Half-Breed Discrimination: Paulie fears that any place he has in the Jersey mob may diminish or even evaporate altogether if it comes out that he's not fully Italian.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Tony starts to soak in all the Aesops he's been hit over the head with at an Anvilicious rate. And it starts to show when he has Pet the Dog moments like promising Barone's widow that no harm will come to Jason, and not insisting on collecting the $2,000 from the paramedic. It's up to him whether he'll make it stick and turn it into a genuine Heel–Face Turn.
• Hidden Depths: At the beginning of the episode, Tony chews out Bobby for being derelict in his duties, as this inadvertantly got Tony shot, and tells him to shape up. Bobby takes the hint and immediately goes in on his scheme with Marvin, turning on the charisma and essentially sweet-talking the latter into getting shot for a hefty fee. He ends the episode by handing Tony a generous envelope with his earnings from Marvin.
• Holier Than Thou: Bob Brewster, despite his cheery demeanor, comes across as insufferably self-righteous to the point that he's obviously constructed as a Straw Character.
• Honest Advisor: Carmela warns Tony to be careful of Paulie and especially Vito.
• Improvised Weapon: Both No Holds Barred Beatdowns seen in the episode see the use of pipes.
• Irony: Combined with a deliberate deconstruction of racism. Tony, the Politically Incorrect Villain has spent the past several days being treated by doctors and nurses of Asian, Black, Indian, and Middle Eastern descent. He expresses relief that a white doctor has finally come to provide relief from the "United Colors of Bennetton". His relief quickly plummets to horror and loathing when it's obvious the doctor, actually, an insurance rep, is a totally callous Dr. Jerk who's motivated solely by cutting costs for the insurance company no matter the well-being of Tony. It's not clear if it ever sinks in for Tony that the colored doctors and nurses showed him more care and compassion and regard for his well-being as a patient than the white insurance rep he ends up dismissing out of his room.
• It's All About Me: Tony gets angry at Paulie for wallowing in self-pity while they're right next to a little girl who's suffered 3rd-degree burns all over her body.
• Just Doing My Job: The defense that the paramedic pleads, but Tony doesn't accept it.
  • Also, the expense conscious insurance rep.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Aunt Dottie reveals to Paulie, on her death bed, that she's actually Paulie's mother after getting knocked up by an unknown soldier during World War II.
• Mercy Kill: John Schwinn, who's dying of Laryngeal Cancer, quietly pleads with Tony to give him one through a lame use of the term "whack".
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: A small comedic subplot involved Tony meeting a gangsta rapper in the next hospital bed over during his recuperation. One of the guys' entourage is a fledgling rapper who realizes that surviving a shooting is key to getting famous, to which he hires Bobby to do it. Bobby shoots him in the ass. If the connection wasn't apparent enough, they dress the character in white pants, a white tank top, and a white hat at the time.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Paulie points out that Uncle Junior the Ungrateful Bastard gave Tony the life-threatening gutshot when the latter took it upon himself to look after Junior. Paulie is himself at the same time agonizing over his disappointment that Dottie and Nucci have been lying to him his whole life. And after years of him being protective of Nucci.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: A driver with Barone Sanitation gets one, at the receiving end of pipes, from rivals at the Cinelli company. It's meant to give Tony and Jason Barone a warning to see through the sale of the Barone company.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse:
  • Tony and Chris make themselves explicit to the paramedic that he can't get out of paying $2,000.
  • Paulie gives Jason a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown with a pipe to the legs, forcing Jason to pay him the $4,000 each month for keeping Nucci in Green Grove. He also emphasizes that Jason will surely come to worse harm should he ever tell Tony about the beating.
• Pain to the Ass: Bobby shoots Marvin in the ass, although Marvin had a different body part in mind.
• Pet the Dog: Tony decides to let Jason off the hook after hearing desperate pleading from his mother not to hurt him. He also lets the paramedic off from paying the $2,000.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: Paulie initially disowned Nucci after learning both her and Dottie maintained the charade that Nucci was his mother instead of Dottie. But then Paulie comes to remember (after witnessing Jason's mother heartful pleading for Jason's life) that Nucci did care for him and looked out for him for years. So he goes back to making sure Nucci stays in Green Grove, even if he has to give Jason Barone An Offer He Can't Refuse and a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
• Recovered Addict: Bob Brewster, Aaron Arkway's preacher friend, admits to being one.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Tony is on his hospital bed watching an episode of Kung Fu (1972). The show itself still has some controversy owing to its lead actor, David Carradine of primarily Irish descent, playing a half-Asian practitioner of martial arts. And cue Paulie, now suffering from fears of Half-Breed Discrimination after learning from Nucci and Dottie that Dottie is actually his mother through an unknown father, walking in on Tony.
  • Tony reads a book on dinosaurs, remembering that he used to read such books as a kid. And it turns out, so do the kids of Bob Brewster. It helps Tony appreciate the Aesop that any lifeform, no matter how powerful or on top of the world it had been in its prime, will inevitably die someday.
  • Strong winds blow over the backyard of the Sopranos' home after Tony is released from the hospital. An encouragement to Tony to internalize the Aesops he's been contemplating.
• Scylla and Charybdis: Jason Barone finds himself between a rock and a hard place. If Jason goes ahead with the original deal and fulfills Tony's demands, he'll lose money. If he doesn't give Tony what he wants, well...Paulie and Patsy have already spelled out the implications for him. And then the purchaser, Mr. Chinelli, won't let him back out of the signed contract.
• Sentient Cosmic Force: How John Schwinn sees the universe, informed by his background in Quantum Physics.
• Shame If Something Happened: Paulie and Patsy show up at Jason Barone's dock and imply he'll permanently lose the ability to teach skiing classes or go kayaking if he won't conclude the sale on terms that are favorable to Tony.
• Shot in the Ass: Marvin actually pays Bobby Baccalieri to shoot him non-fatally to increase his street cred. Bobby tells him he'll shoot him in the fleshy part of the thigh, but when the rapper shorts him on the pay for the hit, he decides to shoot a bit higher...
• Stealing from the Till: Tony suspects that the Parademic pocketed $2,000 from him as part of the "wallet biopsy".
• Straw Character: Almost nothing is safe from condemnation by the Holier Than Thou Bob Brewster, including Tony having been raised Catholic. So Tony decides to give Bob some of his own medicine by starting an argument over why Bob's beliefs forbid abortion and birth control pills, but not Viagra, which can increase sexual Lust. Bob remains blithely unaware of the Strawman Fallacy that Tony points out.
• Suddenly Shouting: Johnny Sack, true to character, loses it when he's unhappy with Tony's counteroffer.
• Suspiciously Apropos Music: "The Three Bells" by The Browns is playing while Jason Barone is kayaking, implying that he's truly a Fish out of Water with the Barone Sanitation thing. And sure enough, no sooner does he dock his kayak than Paulie and Patsy show up to imply he'll permanently lose certain physical capabilities if he won't make things more favorable for Tony.
• Talking in Your Sleep: While Tony was in his Convenient Coma undergoing his existential crisis, Carmela heard him ask aloud the questions of "Who am I?" and "Where am I going?".
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Paulie is distracted by his fears of Half-Breed Discrimination and his shattered images of both Dottie and Nucci and in the middle of a sensitive negotiation between Tony and Phil.
• Title Drop: Bobby, when he makes his offer to Marvin, and Marvin again when he accepts the offer.
• Turn to Religion: Bob Brewster became a born-again Christian after hitting rock bottom with Hookers and Blow. He pleads more than once with Tony to do the same.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • Paulie temporarily disowns Nucci, feeling that Nucci was ungrateful for maintaining the charade of his parentage while he supported her over the years.
  • Tony calls him out on being a Hypocrite, citing the numerous times that Nucci looked out for him while Paulie was younger.
• The Villain Knows Where You Live: Chris makes a point of reading the paramedic's name out loud from his card in order to accentuate the threat.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Tony, when he gets upset over Johnny Sack's counteroffer.
• We All Die Someday: A recurrent theme in the episode.
  • Tony gets hit over the head several times with Anvilicious frequency with reminders that his time to make good on his second chance post-coma is limited.
  • Paulie, himself aging, wallows in brooding and self-pity in the wake of his newly revealed mother, Dottie, passing away, and the knowledge that Nucci will soon pass too.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Tony chews out Bobby for letting his obsession with toy trains get in the way of looking after Uncle Junior.
  • He also lays into Jason Barone for letting the sale situation go far enough to result in a Barone driver getting beaten half to death.

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